--- title: HB 342. Crimes and offenses; access to medical cannabis; repeal certain advertising restrictions on licensees collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb342 cite_as: HB 342, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb342 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb342.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb342/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70099 date: 2025-04-04 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb341.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb343.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 249 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb342.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 342 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-02-10 last_action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted sponsors: - Mitchell Horner - Jason Ridley - Jordan Ridley - Derrick McCollum - Eric Bell text_version: Comm Sub has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB342/2025 upstream_id: 1964540 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - medical cannabis - low THC oil - advertising regulations - cannabis licensing --- # HB 342. Crimes and offenses; access to medical cannabis; repeal certain advertising restrictions on licensees ## Text 25 LC 55 0582S The House Committee on Regulated Industries offers the following substitute to HB 342: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 9 of Chapter 12 of Title 16 of the Official Co de of Georgia Annotated,1 relating to access to medical cannabis, so as to repeal certain advertising restrictions on2 licensees; to provide for rules and regulations; to provide for related matters; to repeal3 conflicting laws; and for other purposes.4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:5 SECTION 1.6 Article 9 of Chapter 12 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Geo rgia Annotated, relating to7 access to medical cannabis, is amended by revising Code Section 16-12-215, relating to8 limitation on locations, advertising or marketing prohibited, a nd information available to9 physicians, as follows:10 "16-12-215.11 (a) No licensee shall operate in any location, whether for cul tivation, harvesting, and12 processing of marijuana or for processing, manufacturing, packaging, or distributing low13 THC oil or products, within a 3,000 foot radius of a covered en tity, measured from14 property boundary to property boundary. No dispensing licensee may operate in any15 location within a 1,000 foot radius of a covered entity, measured from property boundary16 H. B. 342 (SUB) - 1 - 25 LC 55 0582S to property boundary. Notwithstanding the provisions of this s ubsection, local17 governments may, via use of existing zoning powers otherwise pr ovided by law, allow18 dispensing licensees only to locate in places other than those provided in this subsection19 so long as such modification is needed to allow retail outlets to be established to service20 registered patients residing within such local jurisdiction. As used in this subsection, the21 term 'covered entity' means a public or private school; an early care and education program22 as defined in Code Section 20-1A-2; or a church, synagogue, or other place of public23 religious worship, in existence prior to the date of licensure of such licensee by the24 commission or State Board of Pharmacy.25 (b)(1) Licensees No licensee shall be permitted to advertise or market low THC oil or26 products to registered patients or and the public; provided, however, that a licensee shall27 be authorized to provide information regarding its low THC oil and products directly to28 physicians in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the commission29 pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection.30 (2) The commission shall promulgate rules and regulations governing the advertising or31 marketing of low THC oil or products by licensees to ensure tha t such marketing or32 advertising:33 (A) Does not include medical claims that are unsupported by re liable scientific34 evidence; and35 (B) Is not otherwise harmful to the public."36 SECTION 2.37 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.38 H. B. 342 (SUB) - 2 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A House committee substitute would let medical cannabis companies in Georgia share product information directly with physicians, while keeping the current ban on advertising to patients and the general public, under rules the state cannabis commission must write. ### Plain-language summary Georgia law regulating access to medical cannabis (O.C.G.A. § 16-12-215) currently bars licensed low THC oil producers and dispensers from advertising or marketing their products to registered patients or the public. This bill, as revised by a House committee substitute, keeps that general advertising ban in place but adds a new exception: licensees would be allowed to provide information about their low THC oil and products directly to physicians. That physician outreach would not be unrestricted. The bill directs the state's medical cannabis commission to write rules and regulations governing how licensees communicate with physicians, requiring that any marketing or advertising avoid medical claims unsupported by reliable scientific evidence and not otherwise harm the public. The bill also repeals any other state laws that conflict with these changes but leaves the existing location restrictions on where cultivation, processing, and dispensing facilities can operate near schools, early education programs, and churches unchanged. ### What it does - Keeps in place the existing ban on licensees advertising or marketing low THC oil and products directly to registered patients and the public. - Creates a new exception allowing licensees to share product information directly with physicians. - Requires the commission overseeing medical cannabis to write rules governing that physician-directed marketing or advertising. - Requires those commission rules to block unsupported medical claims and prohibit advertising that is otherwise harmful to the public. - Repeals any other state laws that conflict with these changes. ### Who it affects Licensed medical cannabis producers, processors, and dispensers in Georgia; physicians who may now receive product information directly from licensees; registered patients who use low THC oil; and the state commission or State Board of Pharmacy responsible for writing the new advertising rules. ### Why it matters Georgia cannabis licensees would gain a new, regulated channel to inform doctors about their products, which could shape what physicians recommend to patients, while the broader public-facing advertising ban stays intact, so patients and the general public would not see new cannabis ads as a result of this bill. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 16-12-215(b)(1) to maintain the ban on licensees advertising or marketing low THC oil or products to registered patients or the public. - Section 1 adds a proviso letting licensees provide product information directly to physicians, subject to commission rules. - New paragraph (b)(2) requires the commission to promulgate rules ensuring physician-directed marketing avoids scientifically unsupported medical claims and is not otherwise harmful to the public. - The bill leaves unchanged the existing location restrictions in subsection (a) keeping cultivation and dispensing facilities a set distance from schools, early education programs, and churches. - Section 2 repeals any other laws in conflict with the Act. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-02-10) - Last action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted (2025-04-04) - Sponsors: Mitchell Horner, Jason Ridley, Jordan Ridley, Derrick McCollum, Eric Bell - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70099 > The history, votes, and amendments (249 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb342.md?full=1